Download to read offline
![3
will help me add another dimension to this thesis, and will supplement for additional literature. I
have decided to use the book Understanding Disney by Janet Wasko, as the bulk of my research
for this thesis. In addition, I have conducted secondary research, including academic sources and
public sources (such as trade publications, news publications, etc), to supplement. There is
growing scholarship on Disney (i.e., Edgerton and Jackson, Moore, Stein, Bohas, Chytry, Kinni).
My objective for this thesis is to have the reader gain a better comprehension of the Disney
Company. I feel that by understanding Disney fully, we can gain insight into what constitutes a
successful media company.
To fully understand the Disney company, we must start by studying the life and career of
its founder, Walt Disney. A PBS documentary, American Experience: Walt Disney, directed by
Sarah Colt, follows W. Disney’s life and career. One commentator noted that when Walt entered
a room his “personal power walked right in with him” (Colt, American Experience: Walt
Disney). He was seen as a visionary who “built a media/entertainment company” and “created a
cinematic art form” (Colt). One commentator said that regardless of whether you liked him or
not “you had to respect the energy of this guy” (Colt). W. Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois
on December 5, 1901 to Elias and Flora Disney. His childhood was not an ideal one. His father
was a stern man who had endured many personally and professional failures in his life. In 1909,
the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. Disney had a special place in his heart for
Marceline. To him it was this “seemingly idyllic place” (Colt). It was place where he could grow
creatively, roam free, and play with animals. W. Disney grew an adoration for nature and
animals in this time. A commentator in Colt’s documentary noted that “Marceline represents the
one moment in his [Walt’s] life where he was a child” and represented “the last breath of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/6e4378f7-1e8a-453b-9581-54b062b2e881-160108020957/85/DylanFigulyCapstoneThesis-3-320.jpg)
![10
studio would never again feel like family to Walt” (Colt). World War II served as a tough time
for the company, which managed to survive through federal funding for warrelated films. “Walt
was counting on a big box office hit to revive his faltering studio. And he believed Bambi could
fill that bill” (Colt). When Bambi (1942) was released to the public, it was a success. Critics
praised the film was its use of naturalism, and its bravery when approaching big themes like
death. One critics called it “fearless filmmaking, absolute fearlessness” (Colt).
Despite the success of Bambi (1942), Dumbo (1941), and moderate success of Fantasia
(1940), the film were not as big as W. Disney had hoped, didn’t make their costs. Some were
beginning to say that W. Disney’s sense of experimentation was lacking, and his films depended
on a base formula. W. Disney decided to simplify. “The studio,” one commentator argued, “has
only one reliable and undiminished asset from its prewar glory days: his [W. Disney’s] instincts
about what story to tell and how to tell it” (Colt). W. Disney decided to make a film based on the
American folks tales of Uncle Remus. The film tackled the topic of slavery and ideas about race
relations. However, when the film, Song of the South (1946), came to theaters, it was boycotted
for promoting racist stereotypes of African Americans and “white washing” and rewriting
history. W. Disney soon set his sights on a film adaptation of Cinderella (1950), however W.
Disney felt that “I’m never going to make anything as good as Snow White” (Colt). While his
animators and studio worked on the film, W. Disney devoted his time to toy train hobby. Many
of his workers teased him for it, but in this childlike state of play W. Disney “was seeking an
idea” (Colt). W. Disney had been disgusted at the poor conditions of amusement parks and fairs
he had taken his children to, and wanted “a place where people can take their family and have a
good time” (Colt). He rented out acres of land in Anaheim, California under a pseudonym name](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/6e4378f7-1e8a-453b-9581-54b062b2e881-160108020957/85/DylanFigulyCapstoneThesis-10-320.jpg)
![56
argument made that tensions have been created, due to a disconnect between Disney’s visions of
its future and what the fans want. In regards to their parks and resorts, Fischetti gives an example
of how “Disney does not want the Parks, like Epcot for example, to go back to what they were
before.” while “some fans desperately want to see a return to the ‘old ways’ when the park was
more focused on optimistic futurism and nonthrill ride style attractions,” (1213). Disney has
tried to meet their fans in the middle on this issue, by offering “special merchandise
commemorating these old attractions”, as their way of forming a “paratextual relationship” that
“keeps fans somewhat satisfied and brings in revenue,” (Fischetti 13).
To look at these new online Disney fan communities in an objective light, you have to
overcome preconceptions and stereotypes that have been propagated about Disney fans. Fischetti
cites how Henry Giroux referred to Walt Disney World fans as “...brainless consumers who will
buy anything associated with [the parks,]...[who] place inappropriate importance on devalued
cultural material [the attractions]...are feminized and/or desexualized through their intimate
engagement with mass culture...are infantile, emotionally and intellectually immature...[and] are
unable to separate fantasy from reality,” (qtd. in 32). Although fans of the parks are said to
“desire the parks to respect and follow the formal rules”, Fischetti explains how these new fans
have a lot more awareness and are a lot more critical and analytical of the experiences and
messages being presented to them; even going as far to “dissect the different artistic styles that
went into the creation of buildings and areas throughout the parks,” (33). As previously
mentioned, fans have grown to expect a lot from a trip to Walt Disney World. Therefore when
Disney does not meet their expectations, these communities tend to be the most critically
responsive; with the power to post reviews, blogs, and other pieces of information online.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/6e4378f7-1e8a-453b-9581-54b062b2e881-160108020957/85/DylanFigulyCapstoneThesis-56-320.jpg)
![67
to help Aladdin escape According to Hadley, it “gives young girls the idea that that is the way
that you get what you want. You use your body to manipulate people … to get what you want,”
(qtd. in Picker). The documentary points to a common theme of woman having to be rescued by
men, regardless of how strong or powerful they are (aka. ‘damsels in distress’). This promotes
unrealistic expectation of romances, and the idea that all girls find their ‘prince charmings’.
Dines, critiques how the films establish gender roles, with the example of Snow White, claiming
that the concept of the film is ludicrous, in showing a woman who is “happy to cook and clean
with her only friend being animals” (qtd. in Picker). Disney realizes that it adjust to the morals
and values of its changing society, so it began making its representations of woman stronger.
Yet, despite the progress, there was still an idea of ‘male dominance’ that has been kept. An
example brought up, is how in The Little Mermaid (1989), Ariel defies her father, yet gives up
her voice for a prince, and is forced to use her body as a means of communication. Dines, points
to Mulan (1998) as the most powerful representation of a female Disney has project, and yet still
not totally progressive. Dines explains how Mulan “singlehandedly wins the war [in the film] …
however after the war, when she goes home, then the expectations of femininity are exactly the
same, it if it never happened,” (qtd. in Picker). Dr. Carolyn Newberger, a professor of
psychology at Harvard Medical School, references the narrative of Beauty and the Beast (1991).
She explains how Belle is imprisoned and yelled at by the Beast, and her father is taken away
from her, and that the Beast’s “behavior is frankly and horrifically abusive,” (qtd. in Picker).
And what is disturbing, as Newberger describes, is that, despite how she was being treated, Belle
returns to the Beast, civilizes him, excuses his actions. and eventually finds endearing and falls in
love with him eventually. The danger of this, according to Newberger, is that it tell children](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/6e4378f7-1e8a-453b-9581-54b062b2e881-160108020957/85/DylanFigulyCapstoneThesis-67-320.jpg)
![[Infographic] Marvel vs. DC Lowdown on the Showdown](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/infographicmarvelvsdc-130904100741--thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
DylanFigulyCapstoneThesis
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32.
- 33.
- 34.
- 35.
- 36.
- 37.
- 38.
- 39.
- 40.
- 41.
- 42.
- 43.
- 44.
- 45.
- 46.
- 47.
- 48.
- 49.
- 50.
- 51.
- 52.
- 53.
- 54.
- 55.
- 56.
- 57.
- 58.
- 59.
- 60.
- 61.
- 62.
- 63.
- 64.
- 65.
- 66.
- 67.
- 68.
- 69.
- 70.
- 71.
- 72.
- 73.
- 74.
- 75.
- 76.
- 77.
- 78.
- 79.
- 80.
- 81.
- 82.
- 83.